one couple, two cats, thousands of miles, the journey through infertility, a high risk pregnancy, and finally, a baby girl

Saturday, January 16, 2010

no water

Yesterday morning I came downstairs to the kitchen to take my morning meds. The water from the kitchen tap (the only safe drinking water in the house) was noticeably slower. I poured enough into a glass, swallowed my pills, and just about spit everything back out. GROSS. The water was nasty. I turned the faucet back on. Drip, drip, drip. Fortunately there was enough water in the bathrooms upstairs for showers and fortunately I was angry enough about the drinking water that I got dressed and set off in the dark morning hours to buy bottled water at the local store (nearly stomping all the way there).

pictures from my walk for your entertainment

For the people who know me in real life, you know how much ice water I drink; it’s almost on the ridiculous side. Well, pregnancy has made it about five times worse and the thought of not having drinking water was making me ragey. I had asked my husband to request that the water be fixed ASAP, upon his arrival to work.

A few hours later a woman from the housing department called to tell me that all of Dublin 4 (our area) was without water. I was told that the city pipes needed to be repaired after our recent freeze, and that the city had turned off the water the previous night, without telling anyone. Err, what country do I live in? She said the water should be turned back on soon. Fair enough.

By early afternoon I had to leave (another post) and there still wasn’t enough water to flush toilets, run the washing machine or dishwasher, or make ice.Upon arriving home last night, I was able to get a few things done, but my husband arrived later and informed me that the city would be shutting off the water again.

So here we are. Saturday afternoon, no running water, no showers, no flushing toilets, dishes piling up, laundry piling up. I realize that in comparison to what’s happening in other parts of the world, this is trivial, but it’s still frustrating. Particularly since nobody is giving straight answers as to when we might have fully functional plumbing again.

We were up bright and early to be at the grocery store this morning and purchased tons of bottled water, but that gets really expensive, really fast. The other problem is that by the time we finished our shopping, the store was out of water, so I guess other people are out of luck. I can only assume that since the water crisis is set to continue at least through the weekend, the shortage of bottled water will also continue.

As you read in my blog, we were without water for almost a week. Thankfully it came back on in the early hours of yesterday morning. You really take it for granted until you don't have it. Hope it's sorted out for you very soon.